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Well some of you know that I removed my two budgies Isis and Arkady from the main cage and put them into a breeding cage. Well the two budgies left in the flight cage seem like they are trying to make babies. I don't really want them to as the hen is almost 5 years old. She is spending all her time running in the exercise wheel, but I have a suspicion that she us is trying to use it as a nest (all though I don't know how she would prevent her eggs from rolling off of it), she sits in it and the male sits out side of it and feeds her in it. I don't know what to do as I think she is "pregnant" with an egg as her stomach is swollen and her vent is showing. What should I do? She is obviously keen on breeding.

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well I would remove the wheel and if you want her to lay the eggs and have the babies give them the proper material (nesting box, nutrition etc) that would be my suggestion. If you don't want her to lay eggs remove the wheel she may lay a couple but will probably stop.

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Well she has been trying to have babies for quite awhile now, making nests in all sorts of weird locations. I decided that I would rather have her laying an egg somewhere comfortable than on the cage floor where she is uncomfortable and the egg will fall through the grate and she'll just continue to lay more and more and become exhausted. So I gave her a nesting box and she went straight in there. The decision was not made lightly.

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I think at 4 she will probably be okay having a clutch. If she is in good condition and good health, the fact that she is so primed to breed speaks loudly. Are you worried only because of her age or something else? 4 isn't necessarily that old for a budgie. I think the age cutoff of 3 or 4 probably pertains more to show budgies that spend their lives as breeders. I would think a bird that has produced two clutches every season to be in more need of a rest after a few years of that, whereas a healthy bird that has never bred, or only had a clutch or two would not have the same level of nutrient depletion. My oldest hen is about 5, and because she has had only two clutches, and that was almost 3 years ago (my how time flies!!) if she were bonded to a male and was very keen on eggs I would not worry about her because of her age. But I know what kind of condition she is in, what kind of mother she was, well...I just "know" my bird. She has not slowed down any since I brought her home over 4 years ago. She regularly goes for flies around the room, has a good appetite, great feather condition, etc. You are the only one who can sit back, look, and make an honest determination about your hen. And knowing what I do about you from your posts, I believe you have already done that.

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Yes I was worried because of her age. Thank you for the support. I would rather she did it comfortably than on a cold cage floor.

She is so funny. She immediately went into the nest box and started renovating. Pulling out the wood shavings piece by piece. And Izzy is being a very good mate, he is feeding her and everything. How long do you think until an egg will appear? As her vent is swollen and it's been like that for a few days.

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She's a double factor spangle, so I'm actually kinda looking forward to seeing her babies. Not to mention the spangle, but you just don't know what colour combinations she carries.

It will be interesting you will get 100% single factor spangles but we will see if she is carrying the blue gene at all. It will be interesting and of course any recessive genes that they could both the hiding that are the same. Congrats on the first egg.

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congratulations on the egg. Glad to hear she is okay. DOn't worry about the shavings for now at the start they act as a "making this hole my nest" sort of thing. When the bubs hatch add some more every few days to help clump with the poops.

Sounds like she is going to be fine. Is she looking after the egg now or not?

also pencil is fine to use but can be hard to read later, and yes I use no-toxic, water based markers.

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She laid her second egg yesterday and it looks like she is gonna lay one tomorrow. She is looking after them. She spends most of the day in the nest box and has rolled both eggs into the middle of the concave.

I decided not to mark them as I'm scared of dropping them or something. They look so delicate.

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How exciting! I never marked the eggs either, but you can tell pretty much what order they were laid by when they hatch. Both of my clutches had a 4 day period in the middle of hatching where a baby should have hatched but didn't. The third egg each time didn't hatch, and the first didn't either, as the babies started hatching at day 20 instead of day 18. Just mark on your calendar when they are laid and when they hatch, and you will be able to tell. Please keep us updated!